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Toronto Star: There’s still time to axe Scarborough subway extension: Editorial
July 20th, 2015
The Toronto Star
It’s an unjustifiable waste of money, a betrayal of the taxpayer, and a violation of Toronto’s transit priorities. On top of all that, it happened in breach of city council procedure.
Wrong on so many levels — it’s hard to imagine any policy undertaken at Toronto city hall worse than councillors’ feckless approval of a Scarborough subway extension.
Even so, conventional wisdom holds that this is a done deal. Mayor John Tory (open John Tory's policard) has publicly declared: “My work plan has Scarborough subway No. 1.” Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government is committed to the underground route. And most city councillors appear to have little appetite for re-opening debate on the issue. Shame on them all.
In a pair of exclusive stories, the Star’s Jennifer Pagliaro has revealed new details about the mess that is the Scarborough subway, underlining how it should never have been allowed to happen in the first place. Given what’s at stake, there’s every reason to change course and fix this mistake.
Toronto Star: Chief planner says rushed Scarborough subway analysis was ‘problematic’
Friday July 17, 2015
The Toronto Star
Jennifer Pagliaro
Toronto’s chief planner says an analysis given to councillors in 2013 that was used to justify a subway in Scarborough — a decision that will cost the city more than $2 billion — was “problematic.”
Jennifer Keesmaat, in a Friday interview with the Star, described a “very, very chaotic” and “sub-optimal” process as city staff scrambled in summer 2013 to produce a report that would provide some background for council’s decision to scrap plans for a fully funded LRT in favour of the far costlier subway.
Of crucial importance was the projected ridership number presented in that report — considerably higher than the TTC’s figure — wielded by pro-subway councillors to justify tunnelling, a number Keesmaat says is now “irrelevant.”
“Should there have been an extensive due-diligence process before those numbers were quoted and used publicly? Yes. Was there? No,” Keesmaat said.
“If the objective here is to parse the planning analysis that was on the floor of council as being problematic, I would like to suggest: Yes. We didn’t go through a fulsome process. We were not given the opportunity to go through a fulsome process. We were not expected to go through a fulsome process because it was a politically driven process.”
Toronto, East York consider 30 km/h speed limit on residential streets
Published on Sun Jun 14 2015
Toronto Star
Ben Spurr
A group of downtown councillors is set to consider a sweeping proposal to slow traffic on residential roads, though city transportation experts are advising against it.
If it’s approved, the speed limit on all local streets in East York and the old city of Toronto would be reduced from 40 to 30 km/h, affecting some 387 km of road.
Councillor Josh Matlow (open Josh Matlow's policard) first proposed the 30 km/h limit last August, a month after 7-year-old Georgia Walsh was struck and killed by a van in Leaside. He argues the lower limit would make roads less dangerous, and cites a 2012 Toronto board of health report that stated pedestrians have an 85 per cent chance of death if hit by a vehicle going 50 km/h, but the risk decreases to only five per cent at 30 km/h.
“When I hear about a kid being hit, there’s an indescribable pain that you feel,” Matlow said. “And if there are clear recommendations on substantive steps that we can take to make our neighbourhoods safer, then I feel a responsibility to act.”
Toronto Star: Scarborough subway routes narrowed to three choices
The Toronto Star
May 27, 2015
Jennifer Pagliaro
With concerns over how to make the Scarborough subway work with SmartTrack, the city has narrowed the options — leaving Mayor John Torywith little choice.
In a presentation sent to councillors Wednesday and obtained by the Star, city staff say the original nine route options for the Scarborough subway have been short-listed to just three: a Midland Ave., McCowan Rd. or Bellamy Rd. corridor.
Among them, Tory’s best choice to avoid duplicating SmartTrack’s route is picking the one farthest east, along Bellamy Rd. — a decision that could cost taxpayers at least $600 million more.
“Due to political interests that favoured a three-stop subway — that’s getting more costly every day — our city planners have been asked to become contortionists, trying to fit extremely expensive square pegs into round holes,” said Councillor Josh Matlow, who has been the most vocal critic of council’s decision to back former mayor Rob Ford's push for a subway.
The Star: Call for Toronto auditor-general to oversee police
May 22, 2015
The Toronto Star
David Rider
Toronto’s police, libraries and public health, funded by city taxpayers to the tune of $1.6 billion this year, should not be able to avoid the auditor-general’s microscope, city councillors said Friday.
Members of the audit committee want the Ontario government to amend the City of Toronto Act to put the agencies under the auditor-general’s purview, just like the TTC and other city-funded bodies, and in the meantime for those agencies to voluntarily submit to audits.
The vote came after Beverly Romeo-Beehler told them that, since becoming auditor-general in December, she asked the chairs of the boards overseeing police libraries and Toronto Public Health to let her office look at their operations to identify “risk” areas that might need auditing.
Torontoist: Development Signs Could Become Less Boring, More Readable
May 20, 2015
Torontoist
Leah Jensen
The current signage for Toronto’s development proposals are anything but inviting: the language is boring, the images uninspiring or difficult to decipher, and consequently the offer to become involved seems disingenuous.
This could soon change. The drab-looking boards could be phased out, as the planning and growth management committee received a report from City staff last Thursday about how and why Toronto is reforming its development signage. New signs are already being piloted by the City, with the first one appearing on-site at 250 Lawrence Avenue West. Passersby will notice some very obvious design changes, beginning with less text, more icons and imagery, and clearer instruction on how residents can become involved.
Toronto city councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22, St. Paul) brought this concern to council after hearing that the planning process, in general, is not easy to understand for the average resident.
